USA > New Hampshire > History of the Second Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers: its camps, marches and battles > Part 3
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We found good quarters here in the little tenements which had been erected a few years previous for the accommodation of those who might wish to patronize a Southern watering - place, and by a free use for firewood · of the rail fence which surrounded the light - keeper's little garden, we managed to keep ourselves quite com- fortable. Most of us were by this time entirely out of rations, and we learned to bear hunger patiently before more came. A raid was made upon a few hundred pounds of bacon which were discovered in the vicinity, but that was hardly a morsel in the mouths of our famishing horde. Crumbs of crackers were carefully gleaned from the bot- toms of our haversacks, and tea and coffee grounds were boiled over and over again. For three days we subsisted thus before a boat arrived from Washington with provi- sions, when we again embarked, glad enough to leave the inhospitable shores of " Point Starvation," as it had been well named.
We arrived at Fortress Monroe, where we were ordered to proceed to Yorktown, which place General MCCLELLAN had just commenced to besiege. While we were coaling up at the wharf, the rebel iron - clad monster, the Merri- mack, steamed down out of the Elizabeth river in the di- rection of the Fortress, accompanied by two consorts, the Yorktown and the Jamestown. All was excitement in Hampton Roads, and it was but a short time before they were entirely clear of vessels, with the exception of the
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" Monitor" and our little fleet of war steamers, which patiently awaited the threatened attack. But after taking a good survey of our preparations the ungainly monster crept back to its den, not caring to try its hand again with the ugly little " cheese - box 'on a raft."
CHAPTER VI.
-
THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN.
- ATE on the afternoon of the 5th of April the crazy old "South America " wound her way up Cheeseman's Creek, through the fleet of transports which crowded its sluggish waters, and landed us upon the soil of the Peninsula. Everything about indicated the most stupendous pre- parations for prosecuting the siege of the rebel stronghold. The shores of the creek were lined with vessels discharging their cargoes of war materials. Heavy siege guns, huge mortars, shells and ammunition, and great piles of commissary stores greeted the eye in every direction. Thousands of soldiers were camped about, waiting for orders to proceed to the front, the direction of which was indicated by the occasional roar of a heavy gun, and the sudden appearance of a little cloud of smoke where the shell had burst in mid air. We were soon in camp with the rest of our brigade, which had arrived some time before, and it was not long before we had gleaned all the items we needed to form our judgment of
2*
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the situation, of what had been done and what was to be done.
We remained in camp by Cheeseman's Creek but a few days, when we marched to the front to take our part in the siege, which was then vigorously progressing. On the road we were constantly meeting with new evidences of the immense preparations going forward. Parks of the heaviest artillery crowded the fields, and in the woods squads from the engineer corps were busily engaged in manufacturing fascines and gabions for the batteries.
Our division was attached to the corps of General HEINTZELMAN, which occupied the extreme right of the position, directly in front of the town of Yorktown. Our camp was by the side of the Williamsburg road, upon the farm of the rebel General MAGRUDER. It was nearly a mile from the enemy's works, and concealed from his sight by intervening woods. Upon the opposite side of the road, and in full view of the enemy, were the head- quarters of HEINTZELMAN and HOOKER, and also a steam saw - mill, which was of great service to us. The rebels, when they abandoned it, tried to blow up the boiler, but were unsuccessful, and during the siege its merry hum was heard night and day, sawing out plank and lumber to be used in the construction of batteries. Just across the road from HEINTZELMAN's headquarters was the balloon apparatus of Prof. LOWE. Ascensions were made almost every day, which were by no means safe operations for the man of science, as the appearance above the tree tops of his ærial monster was almost invariably the signal for a well - directed fire from the rebel guns. · On such occa- sions the pieces of shell were distributed about our camp with no regard to the safety of life or property. Yet,
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THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN.
strange to say, not a man of our regiment was ever in- jured during these affairs, and the greatest damage we ever saw inflicted was the destruction of a haversack full of "hard-tack." The owner was sleeping composedly in his tent, using the aforesaid haversack as a pillow, when a piece of shell struck it and scattered the contents in every direction. Out rushed the man whose slumbers had been so rudely disturbed, bristling with rage and anxious for a fight with the scoundrel who had kicked his haversack out from under his head. The intruder lay on the ground close by, but the soldier's belligerence cooled down when he saw what it was.
It was not long before we became aware that although holding an honorable and responsible position, it was by no means an easy one. An immense amount of work was to be done and we were to do our share. Batteries were to be erected, strong enough to withstand the shots from the heavy guns on the walls of Yorktown. Parallels for the protection of the infantry must be constructed, and miles and miles of road over which to transport the guns and ammunition to the batterics.
Much of the work in the trenches had to be performed in the night, to escape the vigilant eyes of the rebel sen- tinels. Perhaps a parallel would have to be run out toward the enemy's works. Then the engineers would mark out its course, and the men in grim silence would take their positions, and go diligently to work with shovels, picks and axes. When morning dawned the rebels would discover the new work, tantalizingly near, but behind which the delving Yankees could laugh defiantly at their hundred - pounders.
On such occasions the rebels could hear the sounds of
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our picks and shovels, but as they could not by sound alone judge of our position the shots they fired were, of course, at random. Yet these random shots sometimes came nearer our persons than was desirable, and many narrow escapes were had. One night the Second Regi- ment was in the trenches as support for a battery manned by Hungarians. The rebels had a very good idea of its position, although it was screened by woods, and sent many shells over and even into it. One of these, a thirty - two - pounder, struck upon one of the curtains of the battery, bounded upon the magazine, and rolled under a platform upon which five of the men were sleeping. Fortunately it did not explode, else the dreams of " Father - land" would have been over forever.
The following morning, Company H, of the First Massachusetts, performed one of the most dashing exploits of the siege. The rebels were in the habit of annoying our . working parties from a small lunette work a short distance in advance of their main line. Becoming something of a nuisance, HOOKER determined to abate it. In the gray light of approaching dawn the brave Bay State boys were drawn up behind the entrenchments, supported by two companies armed with shovels. At the word, they dashed forward toward the rebel work. Its occupants were on the alert and poured in a volley which killed three and wounded about twenty. But the First boys were not to be turned back, -on they rushed, nearer, nearer, and over the battery with a yell. The rebels fled in dismay, and the company with shovels soon levelled the work to the ground.
At first, when our men were subjected to the rebel fire. they were very careful to keep low under the protection of
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THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN.
their works. No sooner would a gun flash from the en- emy's lines than every head would be drawn under cover until the rebel missile had passed. But familiarity bred contempt in this case as well as others, and it was not long before it had to be a furious shelling indeed which could destroy the cquanimity of the boys enough to drive them to shelter. Sometimes a sociable game of cards would be going on at the very point to which the rebels were directing their fire. These games were often broken up in a summary manner, as was the case with one in which the writer had the honor to hold a hand. Four of us were seated upon the grass to the rear of the pit, deep in the mysteries of trumps and suits, when a huge shell just brushed the top of our rifle - pit and with a stunning explosion burst directly overhead, showering the unburnt powder upon us without stint. It took but a moment to recover from the shock, when the four euchre players made a simultaneous plunge into the friendly pit, more regard being paid to celerity of movement than to elegance.
The miles of road we built were by no means the least of the labor performed. Sometimes they led across marshes, which would swallow up thousands of feet of lumber before a foundation could be established, all of which had to be cut and carried to the spot by hand. Miles of it were built along the sides of the creek, where the banks often rose so abruptly that in digging down to form a foundation, a declivity would be formed forty or fifty feet high.
Night and day the men labored on these works, seeming hardly to require any rest, so intense was the enthusiasm which then pervaded the ranks. For a short time after our arrival at the front, the few hours of rest which were
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granted us were wofully intruded upon by our brigade commander, General NEAGLEE, who had many qualities which tend to make a good officer, but was a martinet in the worst sense of the word-unmerciful in his drills, and in the management of his men. Every morning, long before sunrise, he had his brigade drawn up in line, and there the weary men would be obliged to stand to their arms for two or three hours, for no earthly reason except to gratify his unbounded ambition to appear always ready for emergencies. His men were mere pup- pets with which to build a name, and as such he used them. But these morning parades soon came to the notice of General HOOKER, who immediately put a stop to them, and it was not long before NEAGLEE was appointed to a command in another division, and General GROVER, of Vermont, whom we all learned to love and respect, was assigned to the command of the brigade.
Although we had plenty of hard work to perform, there was much to interest and amuse us. To me, at least, the historical associations connected with the spot were of deep interest. The parallels which WASHINGTON had built, eighty years before, could be traced as easily as if erected only the day previous, and oftentimes the same dirt which had been thrown up by our forefathers to es- tablish the Union was shoveled over by us to perpetuate it. Many mementoes of that former conflict were dug up,-cannon balls and the bones of soldiers who had fallen in the dying struggle of British power on our soil. One can scarcely realize the reverential awe with which we viewed these remains of the brave ancestry whose achievements had always formed a part of our national creed, and whose memory we had from childhood's hour
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THIE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN.
been taught to treasure up, as having given their lives that we might enjoy the blessings of a free country. Their remains were always re- interred, and with as much care and solemnity as when cighty years before the welter- ing bodies had first been placed beneath the sod.
Within three weeks our parallels had been advanced close to the rebel works, most of the siege guns and mon- ster mortars were in position, and we congratulated our- selves that but little remained to do except to cut down the trees which masked the batteries, and pour in a fire which would make Yorktown a second Sodom. But the coveted sight of the great bombardment we were doomed not to witness, for the rebels, coming to the conclusion that their vaunted position was not tenable, evacuated it. Early on the morning of Sunday, the fourth day of May, Professor LOWE ascended a few hundred feet in his bal- loon, and, as he glanced toward the rebel works, he shouted to a signal officer on the ground beneath, " Telegraph to headquarters that there are no men to be seen in the en- emy's works, and that a body of our troops are advancing on them as skirmishers." The news spread like wild - fire, causing the most intense excitement, and it was not long before we had positive confirmation of the fact from the lips of those who had entered the deserted works. Immediately came the orders to pack up ready for a march, and hardly an hour after they were received our division was marching up the dusty road toward Yorktown, in pursuit of the retreating enemy. So sudden and unex- pected was our movement that we had no time to draw rations, and many of the men had hardly a bite of food until the following Tuesday.
We marched straight through the immense works which
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had so long frowned defiance upon us. The heavy guns, whose hoarse voices had become familiar, were silent,- some spiked, and some filled to the muzzle with sand and dirt, while others had been left entirely uninjured. The gun which had been the pride of the rebel garrison, a rifled hundred - pounder, lay scattered about in fragments. The rebels had attempted to return an unexploded shell which had been sent into their works from one of our gun- boats, but the gun would not endure the use of the strange projectile, and exploded, killing and wounding several of the rebel gunners.
Actuated by the same fiendish, barbarous spirit which afterwards prompted them so cruelly to murder our pris- oners in loathsome pens, and to perpetrate the heart - sickening crimes, of which Fort Pillow and Milliken's Bend are but mere examples, the rebels had planted the roads and all ground likely to be trod by our men, with torpedoes. Several soldiers were blown up by these in- fernal contrivances, before the men could realize that the rebels had been guilty of such an atrocity. Then the vicinity was carefully explored, and the locality of cach torpedo discovered indicated by a little red flag, or by a sentinel posted near it. The natural effect of these con- trivances was to prevent straggling from the ranks, for while the men could follow safely in the wake of their file - leaders, a deviation of a few feet might send them headlong into eternity.
We pressed briskly forward over the Williamsburg road, occasionally coming across a wagon or caisson which had been abandoned by the rebels. Late in the afternoon we met about half a dozen wounded cavalry men going to the rear. They told us the enemy were but a short dis-
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THE SIEGE OF YORKTOWN.
tance ahead, in line of battle, which announcement sent an electric thrill through the whole line of enthusiastic soldiers, and, halting for a moment to load our pieces, we set out again with renewed vigor.
Night came, but still we blundered on over the rough road upon which HOOKER led us. In the inky darkness we could not pick our way, but alternated our time be- tween struggling knee - deep through the quagmires and sprawling at full length over the obtrusive stumps, and it was nearly midnight when we filed from the road and · threw ourselves to rest upon the ground of a little clearing which had been hewn from the dense pine forest of the region.
CHAPTER VII.
-
THE BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG.
-
COLD, drizzling rain ushered in the morning of the "glorious Fifth of May," in the midst of which the brig- ade resumed its march, the men picking their way as best they could by the side of the muddy road. We passed a little work, behind which the rebels had checked the advance of our cav- alry the day before, and had proceeded about two miles from our bivouac when a picket post of the enemy's was encountered, who fired a few shots at our advance. Dispo- sitions were immediately made for a fight, which was the signal for cooks, waiters and all other non - combatants to stream to the rear. General GROVER came riding up to the Second. "I want that New Hampshire company with patent rifles ! Where are they?" he exclaimed. The company called for (Company B) and also Company E, were detached from the regiment and sent forward as skir- mishers, while the brigade formed a line of battle, the Second and the Eleventh Massachusetts on the right of
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THE BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG.
the road, and the First Massachusetts and Twenty - Sixth Pennsylvania upon the left. As the skirmishers advanced, an almost impenetrable abatis of felled trees obstructed their progress, but they wormed their way through it, all of the time hotly engaged with the rebel riflemen. We struggled on after them until the edge of the slashing was reached, when, taking cover behind logs and stumps, we waited the development of events and took our notes of " the situation."
A broad, undulating plain lay before us, across which we could see the spires and buildings of the little city of Williamsburg peeping from their bed of forest trees. Between us and the city a line of small redoubts rose from the green bosom of the plain, the largest of which, called Fort Magruder, mounted several guns and com- manded the road upon which we had advanced. A line of riffe - pits dotted the field to the front of the fort, in each of which crouched a rebel sharpshooter. Fort Magruder shelled the woods and abatis so vigorously and the sharpshooters kept up so brisk a fire that, al- though we kept well under cover, many of the men were wounded.
For full three hours our solitary brigade remained in this position. Although the rebels had a heavy force massed under cover of the redoubts, they did not develop it, thinking, evidently, that the greater part of our army confronted them, and preferring to await an attack rather than to make one. Meanwhile we amused ourselves in watching the gunners on Fort Magruder flourish their dangerous looking sticks around the guns which peered over the walls; and some tried their hand at sharp- shooting with the rebel riflemen, and with good effect.
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" There." shouted one of our men, a good shot, as he dis- charged his piece, after having for several minutes kept it steadily pointed at one of the little mounds, awaiting the periodical appearance of the rifleman's head, " There, I plugged that fellow's head, and he was black enough to be a nigger !" The next day an Indian sharpshooter was found dead in the pit, drilled through the head by the unerring bullet of the New Hampshire soldier.
As the time passed without bringing us any reinforce- ments, we began to grow impatient under the annoying fire from Fort Magruder. But at last our hearts were gladdened by the fierce notes of an artillery bugle, and a regular battery came rumbling up the road, going into po- sition in the field to our front. Immediately all the rebel guns were turned upon the battery, when, to our inex- pressible mortification, most of the gunners deserted their posts and fled in dismay. Our entire regiment rose to their feet with one impulse, cursing the artillerists for their cowardly abandonment of the guns, and giving to those who came into our ranks more kicks and hard blows than most men would be willing to receive. But soon a company of volunteer artillerists came up, manned the deserted guns, and worked them with such a will that every gun on Fort Magruder was silenced.
At length JonNsTo, the rebel commander, appeared to have discovered that he had been deceived as to the strength of the force in his front, and determined to as- sume the offensive. A heavy force of rebels filed out from the rear of Fort Magruder and marched down across the field to attack us upon the left. Fortunately for us the remainder of our division had arrived and taken a position to meet this new movement, the gallant New
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THE BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG.
Jersey Brigade upon the extreme left, in the woods, and the Excelsior Brigade connecting with their right.
Soon the sharp volleys of musketry in that direction told us that the engagement had begun in earnest, and the roar of battle increased until it became terrific. The solid, pounding volleys of the Jersey boys mingled with the fierce rattle of the rebel rifles, and above all the shouts of the excited combatants would occasionally rise as one side or the other gained some temporary advantage.
While this terrible engagement was going on so close at hand, the Second boys were taking as much comfort as possible in the situation. Many took out their shelter - tents and spread them upon the bushes as a protection against the drizzling rain, and some built little fires over which to cook their coffee, despite the shells and bullets which were whistling about their cars. More than one shelter - tent was riddled with balls, and at least one cup of coffee was sent spinning several feet, to the infinite disgust of the unlucky owner. Among the coolest and most unconcerned of the whole crowd was a large, noble looking dog, who, whenever a ball passed near him, snapped spitefully at it, as if he was catching flies. " Tige" can thank his canine stars that he was not nimble enough to catch one.
The brave troops on our left held their position man- fully, until the ground was covered with their dead, but no reinforcements coming to their aid, they were at length obliged to give way before the repeated onslaughts of overwhelming numbers. This rendered our position un- tenable, and we were ordered to fall back to the edge of the woods. In accomplishing this movement we lost many men, as, in climbing over the felled trees, we were
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obliged to fully expose ourselves to the fire of the advanc- ing and exultant rebels. Several pieces of the artillery which had silenced Fort Magruder were abandoned to the enemy.
As soon as we had re - formed in the edge of the woods we were ordered across the road to meet the terrible dan- ger which threatened to overwhelm all. We deployed as skirmishers, with intervals of five paces, thus forming a very long and very thin line, but not a weak one, as the rebels learned to their sorrow. With orders to keep covered as much as possible, we advanced, and were soon engaged in a fierce bushwhacking fight with the enemy. Some confusion was at first occasioned by a misunder- standing, which might have resulted in serious conse- quences. Many of the men, and even officers of high rank, hesitated about firing upon the rebels when they were encountered, fearing that their gray overcoats might be those of the Massachusetts boys of our brigade, which indecision oftentimes gave the rebels the advantage of the first fire, and cost us many true men.
The rebels were somewhat surprised at the tactics of the New Hampshire boys. One of them who was taken prisoner remarked : "Those Jersey fellows kept a solid line, and we felt sure of beating them, but when you New Hampshire fellows went to picking us off from be- hind trees, it was another matter."
For four hours our line of skirmishers kept the rebels at bay. It was a fight of desperation against numbers. We were kept well reinforced by the fighting bloods from other regiments which had been broken up and scat- tered. Now we would be forced back by the weight of numbers, when a fierce stand would be made and the lost
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THE BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG.
ground recovered. Often the parties mingled together in hand- to- hand conflicts. Lieutenant " DAVE" STEELE, with a few men of his company (G) encountered a squad of rebels of twice their number. " DAVE " made a dash among them, swinging his sword and shouting at the top of his voice : "Surrender, you d-d scoundrels, or I'll blow your brains out !" As he had no sign of a fire - arm about his person, it is still a matter of doubt how he pro- posed to perform the operation ; but the rebels could not resist his eloquent appeal, and threw down their arms without delay.
Capt. LEONARD DROWN, of Company E, one of the bravest officers in the service, was shot dead by a squad of rebels bearing a white flag, whom he had called upon to "come in," supposing they wished to surrender. Rebel prisoners with whom we afterwards conversed, alluded to the incident, but insisted that the flag which deceived the brave captain and cost him his life, was only a battle - flag, faded until the figure upon it was hardly visible.
The guns of Fort Magrauder, no longer exposed to the fire which had silenced them, again opened, while on our side three Napoleon guns had been planted in the deep mud of the road, and poured round after round of canis- ter into the rebel raaks. Gen. HOOKER, coated with mud from head to foot, rode coolly up and down the road, en- couraging the men to deeds of heroism both by word and deed. GROVER was everywhere, encouraging his weary brigade. HEINTZELMAN rode furiously .from one point to another. "Give it to 'em !" " Pile 'em up !" he shouted. Some of the men who had used up their ammunition, informed him of the fact. "If you haven't
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